


Dream Out Loud

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), Marvel
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication, Tiny bit of angst not much, and Tony has helpful friends, because it's Steve's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 13:28:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11403375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: Tony has a sexy birthday present for Steve, if they can get on the same page about their intentions.





	Dream Out Loud

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired purely from fantastic artwork from krusca & wett029 (tumblr handles), and the link to the NSFW art is here ([x](https://wett029.tumblr.com/post/146956247312/happy-birthday-steve-rogers-captain-america)). 
> 
> Happy birthday, Steve! :D

“Happy birthday, Steve!”

“Happy birthday!”

“Hey man, happy birthday!”

Steve smiles, nods, says thank you again and again and again. He doesn’t even care who it is that grabs his arm and steers him away, though he’s grateful that it’s only Bucky.

Bucky pushes and Steve goes, and Steve finds himself collapsing onto a chair.

“Sit down before you fall down,” Bucky tells him, several seconds too late. “You’ve looked less exhausted after an eight hour battle with HYDRA.”

Steve does a quick check that no one is looking at them over in the corner, and he finally lets his shoulders slump. “I think I’d rather be fighting HYDRA,” he quietly admits to Bucky with a sigh.

“Oh, Steve, don’t say that!”

Steve startles, and then Jan is at his side with a frown.

“This party is fantastic! Everyone is having a great time. And Tony will be sad if you don’t like the decorations I had him make,” she continues.

“Oh, I like them a lot,” Steve assures. And he does, kind of. Tony really went all-in with the flashing light displays of red, white, and blue. Steve isn’t sure he likes his own name blaring at everyone quite like that, but he thinks the shield design is pretty cool. “And thank you, Jan, for all the effort you went into. It’s a really nice party; I don’t mean to be ungrateful.”

The half-birthday party half-Independence Day party makes him feel a bit better because at least he isn’t the entire focus . Still...sometimes he wishes he could get away with not having a party at all, but the holiday generally meant he had few excuses. Unless HYDRA or some other villain attacks... but Steve can’t bring himself to be that selfish that he would _want_ them to attack so that he had a reason.

But still, it would’ve been convenient.

Instead, Jan and Tony had time to go all out in planning this bash, and Tony’s secret club underneath Club A had never looked more patriotic.

“Oh no worries,” Jan breezes. “I know parties aren’t your strong suit. Thankfully they’re mine, and I declare this one especially spectacular! Picture time!” she declares.

Steve throws a smile on his face a second before Jan snaps a selfie with him. She shows him, and he laughs at the panicked Bucky in the background who wasn’t quick enough to evade the picture entirely.

“Um, by the way,” Steve starts, then stops. Swallows. “Is, uh, did Tony come in with you?”

Jan frowns again, but this one frustrated. And, Steve notes, probably some pity.

Steve hurries to continue, “I just wanted to thank him, for all his efforts. I know he’s busy. He doesn’t have to come, he’s already done so much, I just wondered...”

“He’s on his way,” Jan declares, but that only makes Steve’s heart sink. He doesn’t want Tony to feel forced to come, and Tony would definitely do it if Jan ordered him too.

“If he’s in the middle of something, I totally understand,” Steve says.

“Oh, he is,” Jan says, and her frustration turns immediately into a giggle. “But don’t worry, you’ll find out soon!”

Then Jan shrunk into her wasp form and buzzed over to the other side.

“I’m getting a drink,” Bucky declares and stalks away.

Steve sighs, and slumps back in the chair. His shield digs into his back, and Steve rearranges himself with a groan. He scans the room, and it seems like everyone here has already wished him a happy birthday - so that does that mean he can quietly dart away? He curses when he doesn’t see Bucky by the drinks, because the least his best friend could do was take Steve with if he ducked out to go tune his guitar or something instead.

Then Steve spots Bucky, drinks in hand and trying to hand one to Natasha.

Steve rolls his eyes. But if Jan said Tony is on his way, then Steve would feel terrible cutting out of their party early...

“There he is. Now go,” Steve hears underneath the music track that Vision had playing.

He turns, and then Tony is stumbling toward him. Loki is behind Tony, hands outstretched from the shove. Loki’s smirk turns lofty and indifferent when he catches Steve’s gaze, and then Loki turns and heads for the food.

“Steve! Hey,” Tony says, and then Steve’s attention refocuses.

“Hi Tony,” Steve greets, and he can’t help the smile that stretches across his face.

“How’s the party?” And then Tony plops himself right in Steve’s lap, arms around Steve’s neck. Steve reacts, one hand grabbing Tony’s legs and the other his waist to prevent Tony from immediately sliding off. Steve feels his face heat, but doesn’t let go.

“It’s, uh, it’s great,” Steve stumbles. “Thank you, for putting it together. Oh! And the decorations are really cool.”

“Aren’t they?” Tony asks, his face brightening. “I was afraid they’d be a bit much, you got to have the mood lighting for these kinds of things. But Jan said go for it, and I did. We probably could burn the place down with them; actually, I think I did put fireworks inside one of the them...” Tony trails off, scanning the room.

“Maybe we don’t do that,” Steve suggests, alarmed. When Tony pouts, Steve hurries to continue, “at least not down here. Maybe outside? In the stadium, or something?”

“Perfect!” Tony agrees, smiling wide - one of Steve’s favorites.

Steve finds himself returning it, and he might’ve been content to sit there and smile at Tony for hours. Except -

“Ugh, you two are disgusting,” Natasha comments, with Bucky standing next to her. She has a drink in her hand, and Bucky is smiling, so Steve assumes things are working out well for him.

“You mean cute!” Jan comments and she snaps a photo before Steve can blink. “Tony, you need to apologize for being late. Steve was looking for you!”

Steve flushes, and Bucky, the traitor, snickers.

“You were?” Tony asks, eyes wide and very close as Steve turns his head.

“Um...” is all Steve can manage.

“Well, I’m sorry for being late,” Tony offers. Then his cheeks flush, just a little, and Steve can’t help but stare at the small pockets of red. “I, uh, needed to finish wrapping your present.”

“Oh.” Except Tony had come in empty handed, and besides, “The party is more than enough, Tony...”

“Don’t deny it, Rogers. The entire Academy knows you want this present,” Loki slides in.

“Loki!” Tony hisses at him.

“You should thank me, really,” Loki directs at Steve. “I had to drag him away from admiring himself in the mirror-”

Steve doesn’t miss Tony’s frantic look at Jan, and no one misses Jan clamping her hand over Loki’s mouth and dragging him away.

Tony looks away so Steve can’t see his face, so Steve looks down instead. Tony’s black jeans are hiding a burn mark, right above the knee, and Tony needs to be more careful in lab -

Natasha coughs, drawing Steve’s attention. She draws Tony’s attention too, as she whispers, “your bow,” while pointing at her head. Then she turns and drags Bucky away, and anyone else standing in the vicinity quickly follows.

“Oh!” Tony exclaims. “See, this is why I wasn’t ready yet. I was trying to get this to stay,” Tony mutters to himself as he struggles with something on his back.

The red ribbon around Tony’s neck that Steve had thought simply an unusual fourth of July accessory turns out to be ribbon that goes under Tony’s chin that keeps a bow in place on top of his head. Now with the bright red bow properly sitting in Tony’s hair, Steve’s mind races miles and miles ahead.

“So,” Tony says, and then clears his throat. Steve feels him take and release a deep breath, and then is himself pinned in place by Tony’s dark stare. “Happy birthday, Steve,” he purrs, leaning even closer. “Do you like your present?”

Steve should laugh. He should laugh, because this has to be a joke. A funny joke, even, except that fire is racing through his veins and Steve’s skin feels too hot. Because Steve has a good imagination, and it’s worked out well for him before, especially with Tony. Steve can be content, mostly, with simply imagining. But now he imagines, he imagines unwrapping Tony as his present, he imagines what he’d find underneath. Is Tony wearing something special?

Steve’s mind floods with a hundred images, all of Tony. Tony in lace, Tony in silk, Tony in scraps of fabric, Tony in nothing at all. Tony, in his lap right now, wearing them (or not). Tony, in a hundred other poses but all of them including Steve.

Steve had imagined, earlier today, that he might be able to get a kiss from Tony. A kiss on the cheek is all he had dared to imagine, but now...

A noise in Tony’s throat jolts Steve from his imaginings, and he realizes that his hands are clenched tight around Tony, fingers digging into his skin.  
“Sorry,” Steve gasps, releasing his grip.

Tony slips down, just a little, before he finds his balance and grips Steve’s neck tighter. The shifting reminds Steve that he really shouldn’t have Tony leave his lap right now, and his pulse thrums loudly in his ears. His mind races again, but this time for a continency plan in case Tony leaves, because Steve made the joke awkward and weird now. Would holding the shield in his lap be too obvious?

Tony shifts again, this time deliberately, and Steve hisses a breath out between his teeth.

“That’s a yes, right? You - you like it?”

Steve brings himself to meet Tony’s gaze only because while Tony’s tone is questioning, it’s also...pleased?

“Steve?”

Steve can’t look away, his arms still hovering around Tony, as Tony looks at Steve with something that seems a lot like hope.

“It’s not...this isn’t a joke?” Steve asks, the words scraping out of his throat.

Tony’s face falls. “Oh, yeah, of course. Haha, happy birthday, I love jokes, don’t you? Always need to lighten up a party -”

Tony tries to rise from Steve’s lap, but Steve grabs hold and keeps him down.

“It’s not a joke,” this time Steve says. He can’t quite hide the wonder in his tone, because this isn’t him imagining. This isn’t all in his head, and here in reality Tony isn’t laughing in his face. “Tony...”

Tony turns his head away. “Well, it can be. We'll laugh it up now, and never have to talk about it ever again.”

Steve swallows. “Usually people start with asking people out on a date. I thought.”

“We’ve been dating!” Tony explodes, hands in the air. Steve has to grip him tight to stop Tony from falling to the floor.

Then Steve almost lets go, mouth gaping. “What?”

Tony groans, running a hand through his hair and dragging the bow along with. “Really? The library? Club A? The dojo? My tower?”

Steve splutters. “We were doing research! And drinks, because you were thirsty! And working out, and...” Steve watches Tony’s face twist. “Those were dates?”

Steve feels like his entire world is upside down. But he looks at Tony, blushing and curling into himself even while still on Steve’s lap. “Those were dates,” Steve repeats, and something rises with him. Something that shifts his perspective of the past few weeks - months? - in a single wrench. From Tony asking Steve to go places, to do things, and Steve dragging Tony along to do the same. All while Steve spent a considerable amount of time imagining.

“We need to talk,” Steve says with a laugh, because he feels like if he doesn’t laugh than he’ll cry. He knows those are dreaded words now, in this time, but he doesn’t have time to think of another way to say it.

He’s too busy memorizing everything about the moment as he cups Tony’s chin in one hand and leans in.

It takes Tony only half a second to fall into the kiss, melting into Steve in a way that sets Steve on fire. Tony’s lips, his tongue, his teeth - Tony - send sparks dancing through Steve, and Steve is again holding onto him too tightly but he can’t imagine letting go.

A large whoop from someone else breaks into Steve’s internal chant of _TonyTonyTony_ and he pulls back, just a fraction, gasping against Tony’s lips.

“Get it, birthday boy!” is shouted from the party that Steve entirely forgot even existed. A smattering of laughs take over the music, and Steve is grateful for the noise because if he hears Jan snapping photos he might be tempted to move from this spot.

Tony kisses him again, deep and dirty, and there are more cheers.

“Our friends are idiots,” Tony whispers against Steve’s lips.

Steve laughs, kisses Tony, laughs again. “So are we.”

 

* * *

 

“Steve, come on.”

“It’s my present, Tony. I’ll unwrap it how I want to.”

“...If you don’t hurry up, we’ll miss the fireworks.”

“I think there will be plenty of fireworks right here.”

“Please...”

“...oh, Tony. You’re gorgeous.”

“Look later. Touch now.”

“This is my red. Not that Iron Man, hotrod red. My red.”

“I kinda planned that, Captain America...oh God do that again. _Steve_.” 


End file.
